DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6, 8-12, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haggai et al. (US 2022/0116711) in view of McKenna et al. (US 8,308,572).
Referring to Claim 1, Haggai teaches a method comprising:
concurrently broadcasting, by a user equipment (UE), an audio signal to a plurality of receiving devices based on one or more broadcast parameters (see paragraph 18 which shows the broadcasting of audio PDUs to multiple receivers);
based on an event trigger occurring, adjusting the one or more broadcast parameters based on reception data received from one or more receiving devices of the plurality of receiving devices (see paragraph 19 which shows feedback from the receiving devices including RSSI and PER data); and
broadcasting the audio signal based on the adjusted one or more broadcast parameters (see paragraph 24 which shows the modification of parameters for future broadcasts of audio data).
Haggai does not teach forming, by the UE, a report group by selecting one or more receiving devices from the plurality of receiving devices and adjusting one or more broadcast parameters based on reception data received from the report group. McKenna teaches forming, by the UE, a report group by selecting one or more receiving devices from the plurality of receiving devices (see col. 15, lines 44-53 which shows simultaneously transmitting gaming content which is known in the art to include audio data to a selected group of end devices over a broadcast path) and adjusting one or more broadcast parameters based on reception data received from the report group (see col. 15, line 54 to col. 16, line 8 which shows modifying gaming content based on feedback). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of McKenna to the device of Haggai in order to better ensure all end devices of a sub-group are receiving the proper data.
Claim 8 has similar limitations as claim 1.
Referring to Claims 2 and 10, Haggai also teaches the audio signal concurrently broadcasted to the plurality of receiving devices by a unidirectional channel using Bluetooth Low Energy protocols (see paragraph 21 which shows the broadcasting using BLE protocols). McKenna teaches the receiving devices as a report group (see col. 15, lines 44-53 which shows simultaneously transmitting gaming content which is known in the art to include audio data to a selected group of end devices over a broadcast path). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of McKenna to the device of Haggai in order to better ensure all end devices of a sub-group are receiving the proper data.
Referring to Claims 3 and 11, monitoring for an advertisement signal broadcast by a receiving device of the plurality of receiving devices, wherein the advertisement signal indicates a portion of the reception data associated with the receiving device of the plurality of receiving devices (see paragraph 20 which shows the device scanning for FDBK RESP PDU reports which are the advertisements broadcasted back by the receiving device through the same channel which shows reception data as shown in paragraph 19). McKenna teaches the receiving devices as a report group (see col. 15, lines 44-53 which shows simultaneously transmitting gaming content which is known in the art to include audio data to a selected group of end devices over a broadcast path). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of McKenna to the device of Haggai in order to better ensure all end devices of a sub-group are receiving the proper data.
Referring to Claims 4 and 12, Haggai also teaches concurrently with broadcasting the audio signal to the plurality of receiving devices, requesting reception data from a receiving device of the plurality of receiving devices (see paragraph 18 which shows the broadcasting of a feedback request to the reception devices). McKenna teaches the receiving devices as a report group (see col. 15, lines 44-53 which shows simultaneously transmitting gaming content which is known in the art to include audio data to a selected group of end devices over a broadcast path). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of McKenna to the device of Haggai in order to better ensure all end devices of a sub-group are receiving the proper data.
Referring to Claim 6, Haggai also teaches the one or more receiving devices including a predetermined number of receiving devices of the plurality of receiving devices closest in distance to the UE (see paragraph 35 which shows receiving devices within a broadcast range of the broadcasting device and paragraph 34 which shows the group of receivers as a predetermined group such as family). McKenna teaches the receiving devices as a report group (see col. 15, lines 44-53 which shows simultaneously transmitting gaming content which is known in the art to include audio data to a selected group of end devices over a broadcast path). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of McKenna to the device of Haggai in order to better ensure all end devices of a sub-group are receiving the proper data.
Referring to Claim 9, Haggai also teaches the broadcast adjustment circuitry implemented in a wearable device communicatively coupled to the UE (see paragraph 30 which shows the device as a wearable device).
Referring to Claim 14, Haggai also teaches the one or more receiving device including a predetermined number of receiving device of the plurality of receiving device farthest in distance from the UE (see paragraph 23 which shows the farthest devices requiring the highest power output which implies the modification of power to the highest power done to communicate with whatever devices are farthest away that sent a feedback). McKenna teaches the receiving devices as a report group (see col. 15, lines 44-53 which shows simultaneously transmitting gaming content which is known in the art to include audio data to a selected group of end devices over a broadcast path). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of McKenna to the device of Haggai in order to better ensure all end devices of a sub-group are receiving the proper data.
Claim(s) 5, 7, 13, and 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haggai and McKenna and further in view of Kumar et al. (US 2019/0102143).
Referring to Claim 16, Haggai teaches a method, including:
broadcasting, by a user equipment (UE), a series of packets representing an audio signal to a plurality of receiving devices (see paragraph 18 which shows the broadcasting of audio PDUs to multiple receivers);
forming a report group including one or more receiving devices of the plurality of receiving devices (see paragraph 34 which shows the groups formed including small groups including a group of family members);
adjusting the one or more broadcast parameters based on reception data received from the report group (see paragraph 19 which shows feedback from the receiving devices including RSSI and PER data and paragraph 24 which shows the modification of parameters based on feedback); and
broadcasting the audio signal to the plurality of receiving devices based on the adjusted one or more broadcast parameters (see paragraph 24 which shows the modification of parameters for future broadcasts of audio data).
Haggai does not teach rebroadcasting each packet of the series of packets to the plurality of receiving devices based on one or more broadcast parameters. Kumar teaches rebroadcasting each packet of the series of packets to the plurality of receiving devices based on one or more broadcast parameters (see paragraph 16 which shows the retransmitting of packets based on a NACK). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Kumar to the device of Haggai in order to better ensure proper delivery of broadcasted data to its intended targets.
The combination of Haggai and Kumar does not teach forming a report group by selecting one or more receiving devices from the plurality of receiving devices and adjusting one or more broadcast parameters associated with rebroadcasting each packet based on reception data received from the report group. McKenna teaches forming a report group by selecting one or more receiving devices from the plurality of receiving devices (see col. 15, lines 44-53 which shows simultaneously transmitting gaming content which is known in the art to include audio data to a selected group of end devices over a broadcast path) and adjusting one or more broadcast parameters associated with rebroadcasting each packet based on reception data received from the report group (see col. 15, line 54 to col. 16, line 8 which shows modifying gaming content based on feedback). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of McKenna to the modified device of Haggai and Kumar in order to better ensure all end devices of a sub-group are receiving the proper data.
Referring to Claim 17, Haggai also teaches the audio signal concurrently broadcasted to the plurality of receiving devices by a unidirectional channel using Bluetooth Low Energy protocols (see paragraph 21 which shows the broadcasting using BLE protocols).
Referring to Claim 18, Haggai also teaches monitoring for an advertisement signal broadcast by a receiving device of the report group, wherein the advertisement signal indicates reception data associated with the receiving device of the plurality of receiving devices (see paragraph 20 which shows the device scanning for FDBK RESP PDU reports which are the advertisements broadcasted back by the receiving device through the same channel which shows reception data as shown in paragraph 19).
Referring to Claim 19, Haggai also teaches based on a report trigger occurring, sending a signal to a receiving device of the report group requesting reception data from a receiving device of the plurality of receiving devices (see paragraph 18 which shows the broadcasting of a feedback request to the reception devices).
Referring to Claim 20, Haggai also teaches selecting one or more receiving devices of the plurality of receiving devices based on their respective distances from the UE (see paragraph 35 which shows the selected receiving devices within the broadcasting range of the broadcasting device).
Referring to Claims 5 and 13, Kumar also teaches adjusting the one or more broadcast parameters including adjusting a number of times to rebroadcast each packet of the audio signal (see paragraph 52 which shows a fixed number of retransmissions of the packet data). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Kumar to the device of Haggai in order to better ensure proper delivery of broadcasted data to its intended targets.
Referring to Claims 7 and 15, Kumar also teaches the reception data indicating a respective number of packets of the audio signal received by each receiving device of the one or more receiving devices (see paragraph 36 which shows the amount of packets transmitted). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Kumar to the device of Haggai in order to better ensure proper delivery of broadcasted data to its intended targets. McKenna teaches the receiving devices as a report group (see col. 15, lines 44-53 which shows simultaneously transmitting gaming content which is known in the art to include audio data to a selected group of end devices over a broadcast path). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of McKenna to the modified device of Haggai and Kumar in order to better ensure all end devices of a sub-group are receiving the proper data.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EUGENE YUN whose telephone number is (571)272-7860. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm.
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/EUGENE YUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648
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